The Bane of Her Existence
by TheyScreamAndCrawl
Summary: This is a fic trade for a dear friend of mine. A young doctor meets the man who will bring the revolution she's been waiting for, Bane. M for future shameless smut. Chapters are a bit short, sorry. '
1. The Rise

He was such an interesting character for having such a simple name. Bane had waited a long, agonizing time in the darkness before his appearance in Gotham, and this appearance would not be easily forgotten by anyone. The monumental man was oddly thankful for being christened in the harshness of a South American prison. Anyone else would've crumbled in that environment, but he only took the opportunity to condition for his rise into the world. His first kill was at the tender age of eight. He could still remember the tattered teddy bear he always carried with him. It had a gash in its back, where the boy kept a well-sharpened knife in case trouble should come about. He found it primordial to learn as much as he could; reading any books he got his hands on, insistently questioning the elders there. This made him extremely educated, as he felt this was most important. Years of fighting and training went by before he was able to climb his way out of the hell hole. When he did, it came with a sense of liberation and heaviness, there was so much to do now. He promptly learned about the crime bubbling in Gotham. It was labeled a villain hot-spot by newspapers, constantly reported about on the news- the concentration of bad men always threatening to spill over the rest of the country. It never really did, though. Something about the corrupt, infamous city sucked in criminals and kept them there like flies in a honey pot. Naturally, Bane was fascinated. He became increasingly interested as news of a mysterious and intimidating vigilante in a bat suit continued to make the front pages. The prison escapee was immediately reminded of something. Far in his past he'd often dreamt about an enormous bat- there in a fleeting moment and then gone the next. Bane knew where he needed to go, what he had to accomplish was not yet clear, but his destination was Gotham.

The building stood at more than a thousand feet. It towered over most of the others, and it was in it that Eileen sat contemplating the view. From this far up the city looked rather tranquil, but she could see it become uglier the closer she looked into its streets. Bums, robbers, rapists- the scum of the earth building up around her while the rich and lucky ones stood ingorant and proud in their garish homes. It was enough to make her sick. She hated this pathetic excuse for a home. Of course she knew the reality of it, but sometimes she couldn't help but fantasize about a revolution. Nevertheless she distracted herself with the pretense of a normal life. Working as a decently payed psychologist filled her hours. She'd made something of herself through focus and work, but she was helplessly dissatisfied with how her life had turned out. She had seen too many of her colleagues lose their way. People she was close to like Dr. Crane, locked away in the place he had once looked over in a jacket made just for him. Her own best friend Harley Quinzel lost her mind and eloped with a madman. Eileen kept contemplating her future. Sure, she was still very young, moderately stable and had a long way ahead of her, but what could she possibly do to bring change? To flip society upside down and watch everyone she hated flail in the wake of a local war? Her answer came in the form of a tall, built, masked madman. Several weeks went by before her world turned a different direction.

"What the hell is that?" She heard someone on the other side of the bar question what the television in front of him was airing. Her interest hardly peaked. She took a quick glance towards the screen at what looked like a movie. As she turned back around to finish her drink a few other exclamations escaped the people now forming in clusters around the TV. Her eyebrows furrowed and she slid the glass towards the bartender. It was only when the place fell in complete and almost foreboding silence that she turned back around. She evaluated the expressions around her first. What might have earlier been interest and excitement had now become a look of utter shock and fear. Eyes glistened while their attention was taken by the images beeing displayed. Eileen turned her own focus to the film. It was not a movie. It was a live broadcast from the Gotham Rogues football stadium- only there were no games being played. Instead a big, disconcerting man stood at the edge of the field, another person being held down on his knees beside him. The helicopter showed an aviary view of the gigantic hole than had been blown in the arena. The field had collapsed and little of it was left. The scene cut back to the figure in the brown coat and odd mask. Reporters were struggling to place microphones close enough to him in order to pick anything up. Soon enough he obtained his own and his voice boomed and echoed through the bar- the whole city went quiet. "Gotham!" It was not the voice she'd expected to come from such a robust person, it seemed to reflect his mind more than his physical state. "Take control of your city! This is the instrument of your liberation!" His accent was tinged with British, but mixed. Sometimes a growl, other times a smooth hiss. His speech was reminiscent of a revolutionary leader's. Eileen took extreme notice of this. The still unidentified man turned his attention to the one on his knees. He was given a microphone. "Identify yourself!" Shivers crawled up and down her spine. His voice echoed through the stadium with a graceful strength. This was not just some escaped lunatic. This was something more, something she'd long been waiting for- an agent of chaos. She rose from her seat as the show continued. The speech went on for a while longer, the reporters looked flustered and horrified and gathered from it that Gotham was under the immediate threat of a nuclear bomb. The man on his knees was the only scientist able to disarm it, and he'd been killed on live television. Bane wanted a revolt- for the lower classes to rise up and take the city once again, for the rich to fall hard. Eileen's lips twitched into a smile. She had to find this man.


	2. An Old Friend

"How do you find the most dangerous man in Gotham?" The TV seemed to echo Eileen's thoughts. Commissioner Gordon had been once again cornered by the members of the media and he looked less than happy about it. Some officers nervously clustered around him in a effort to block the prying reporters, but some managed to filter through and reach him. Gordon finally stopped in his tracks and turned to face the camera. "We have a bare minimum of information on his current whereabouts, but I can promise you that the Gotham police department is working as hard as they can to find him and the alleged bomb". He sounded borderline apologetic and swiftly left towards the car. A few stubborn reporters could be heard shouting in the distance. "Are the rumours that he's gone underground true?" "What happened to the Batman? Will he intervene?" The questions fell to deaf ears, at least at the location. Eileen, however, took a mental note of what she'd heard. This wasn't the first time someone had mentioned the underground sewage systems and tunnels as a plausible hideout. She took the last sip of her coffee and left for work.

The fellow doctors back at Arkham had plenty to gossip about while she filed things away and filled in documents. "I heard he's not alone, and they're planning a revolution". One of them said with a worried tone. "My patient keeps talking about it like mad. He says his name is Bane. He acts like he has ways of reaching and talking to him- it's unsettling, really". This had become increasingly fascinating to Eileen, the whole situation had escalated into a full-blown obsession. Bane. That was his name, so simple, she thought. She finally spoke after a while of listening to the others' ravings. "Maybe...maybe we should conduct interviews with all the patients. If it happens to be true, that- uh, Bane has some sort of direct hotline here, then perhaps we could get some interesting information about all this. You know, call in the police department, save the day?" Her eyes nervously glanced over her peers. Their expressions varied from amused to confused. One of them finally spoke. "You can't expect us to use these crazies as reliable witnesses? They're insane and addicted to attention. That's why they're here, Eileen- " He was interrupted by another voice. "Maybe that could actually work, though. I mean think about it, what do we have to lose? If it's true we get information and if it's not..." She looked around and shrugged. "Ok, fine. But she's in charge of it, I ain't wasting my own time". Eileen breathed a sigh of relief. This was it, a couple of questions here and there and she could be well on her way to this new idol of hers.

And then what? All of a sudden a rush of anxiety washed over her. So she finds this man, who came to essentially terrorize the city, and then do what? Help him? Would he even let her? She sat there contemplating whether this little adventure of hers was worth losing a job over- something which would probably happen. Then she remembered why she was interested in the first place. This life was not satisfying, not in the least. She hated the job, she hated the people around her- with a few exceptions, and she hated this place. To hell with stability, it's always been just an illusion to make people feel safe anyway. She decided to spend that day on the interview assignment. She started with Dean Wester. One of the lesser maniacs, he told her very few things and she left the room frustrated. After she'd gone through at least ten useless psychos she flipped to the last page and read the name. It gave her a little pang in the chest. Before the man had turned out to be a complete basket case he'd helped her through her training- he was like an older brother to her. She closed her eyes and sighed. She had to do this. He could be the key- the cops had already found out about his connections with large criminal organizations.

The door of his white padded room swung open. Eileen stayed focused and put on her business face, even if it hurt. She pulled up a chair and sat opposite him. "Hello, Crane". Her voice was steady. The man lifted his face and tried hard to make out who or what he was seeing. She had to look away. Boy, he was a mess. His eyes were sunken in and the radiant blue light in them had somehow dimmed- like he was dying inside. She gulped and started the questioning. "The doctors here have been hearing some things from the patients about the recent, uh, attack on Gotham...". She cleared her throat to continue but he interrupted her. "Eileen!" It seemed like this whole time he'd been focused on trying to remember her. His voice was cracked and vacant. His eyes rolled up toward her and back down at the floor, like he was there a moment and gone the next. "Yes, well, I was hoping you could tell me something about this Bane everyone's been talking about?" She waited for an answer while he sat there unmoved and empty. She almost gave up when he twitched into life again and spoke erratically. "Oh. Oh... Well. He has something very special prepared for all of us". He smiled a kind of forced, useless grimmace and let his head fall back down. Eileen knit her brows and continued. "Do you know where he is? Listen to me, where is he? I need to know!" She bit her tongue. He grinned again and spoke without looking up. "For an old friend, anything". He laughed hoarsely. "But why do you want to know so bad?" His words faded in and out like a broken tape. "We- I need to... John. I really do". His eyes darted as he tried to remember if that was his own name. He raised his head and sighed. "He's hiding where the rats are. Under... under that Wayne tower". He smiled again and this time she returned it. "Thank you. Promise I won't tell". She rushed out of the suffocating room and realized she'd almost forgotten who her old friend had become.

That night she packed a few things in a brown purse and left the apartment for the city's underbelly. The streets were colder than usual and the air pierced her throat. Things were starting to turn a bit chaotic after that little revelation at the stadium. People were getting reckless- crashing store windows, stealing, forming into petty gangs. She quickened her pace and took a cab to her destination, which she had to estimate. The street was a few blocks away from the tall, rich man's building. She looked around for any sort of hole, and entrance to the underneath. It didn't take long to find it in an alley. Her heart pounded. This was it. The moment she went down there she knew there was no turning back. She popped the lid off and looked down into the darkness. Sliding one foot in, then the other, she slipped into the disgusting place. Her landing echoed in the tunnels as she took out the flashlight from her purse. She pulled out a map where she'd marked on and started walking. It took some twists and turns, and a bit of panicking, before she reached a point where faint voices could be heard. She stopped and listened- her breath quickening. First there were a few men arguing, she couldn't make out any words, only sounds. And then she heard it, it was unmistakable- Bane.


	3. Playing with Fire

"I've no need for you anymore, I'm afraid". She stood cold on the spot while listening. There were some fumbling noises, and a chilling crack followed by some splashing. Her gulp sounded extremely loud down there and made her twitch. She closed her eyes to calm herself and slowly walked towards the noises. Words increased in clarity as she neared the group of men. No one spoke but Bane now. She'd figured out the situation. He'd killed one his men- thrown him in the water. She realized the sound had probably been his neck breaking. There was only one corner to turn now until she was exposed. She could die here. Die or be dragged into a whole world of danger. Her feet shuffled a bit awkwardly as she gathered herself. "This is it" She whispered. No one noticed her when she first walked in. Bane was busy fumbling with the equipment and the others had entered a different section of the tunnel. She stood there horrified, amazed, and considerably star-struck. The man's entire upper half was exposed- his strong back facing her. One muscle shifted over the other at his slightest move, she'd never seen the like. Stifling a gasp made her break the silence. Bane froze and slowly turned to face her while her heart pulsed with fear and excitement. His intricate muzzle was not the first thing she noticed, but his eyes. There was too much in them. Anger and bitterness- sadness, even. She saw the veins on his head as his brows furrowed.

They stood facing each other for a fraction of a second before he spoke. "And who might you be?" His low growl reverberated in the cave while he took steady steps closer to her. She opened her mouth to speak but gulped instead. Damn it. Now was not the time to panic. She searched her head for something to say. What do you tell Gotham's new greatest enemy? "I'm... a doctor". She could have slapped herself across the face. "I mean, I was". She almost sensed him grin under his contraption. "A doctor!" His tone mocked her and he spread his arms as if he was introducing her to the empty place. Eileen braced herself and hardened her words. "That's how I found you". She looked at him straight in the eyes, holding his gaze so he wouldn't think of her as a coward. He started to circle the girl, not unlike a shark with its pray. His silence started to pull at her seems, so she continued as he observed her. "I work at Arkham Asylum. The patients there had lots to say about you". She knew hardly anything of the man. "One of them knew your location. Tell me, how did you reach them, my patients?" She'd decided using her doctor voice would help her sound strong. "Find me? And to what purpose? Why were you looking?" He ignored her last question. Why was she doing this, indeed. She felt everything crash around her. This was a whim- a desperate, senseless whim. She had no good reason apart from the anger she shared with him. The need for a revolution, for anything different to happen. "I...understand". His eyes looked at her with puzzlement. "What you're doing. I understand". She broke the eye contact and glared at the grimy floor. This could all go so terribly wrong. "Do you really?" His voice made her jump. He reached his hand out toward her face and she took a step back thinking he'd snap her like he did the other man. But he reached her chin and pulled it up. "And what am I doing?" She looked at him and briefly fought the urge to cry. "You're the reckoning". Her voice trembled now- all strength drained away the moment he'd touched her. He took a while to look away from her and let his hand slip off her chin. As he turned from her he replied, lower than she'd ever heard him speak. "I am".


	4. Soft Spots

The grip in her chest started to ease up as he stepped away. He took what he was working on earlier in his hand and tossed it in a pile of undefinable trinkets. "This just won't do". He sounded careless and frustrated at the same time. She cleared her throat- now dry from the heavy breathing. "I... Just though I might be able to help". Her eyes squinted in fearful anticipation of the reply. He turned back around a little more irritated than before. Her back straightened as she prepared herself to take a few steps back again. This time his movements were quicker, and they frightened her. Before she could blink he had her pinned on the wall. His voice now grazed her ear. "Take a look around, does it look like I'm in need of your help?" Her eyes involuntarily closed shut as she struggled to breathe. Her voice cracked again. "I don't know. I just know" She sharply took in a breath of air. "That I don't want to be anywhere else- I can't". Her hands tried helplessly to push away his arms, but it was like moving a tree trunk with a toothpick. Her eyes were turning red and began to tear up when his hold eventually loosened. Then she saw it in his eyes again- that questioning, the understanding. He got it perfectly now.

Here were two people with nothing to lose and everything to gain. "I'll let you stay, as long as you don't get in the way". The truth is she reminded him of someone. A girl he'd protected a long time ago in that South American prison. Bane was not the sentimental kind- at least not anymore, but he could still feel a tug at his strings in that moment. Suddenly Eileen made an unexpected move. Her freed arms flung around his waist. The excitement of still being alive had overwhelmed her. He'd felt pity for her, and the urge to touch him had become unbearable. The man towered like a mammoth above her small frame. His arms hovered awkwardly while he tried to process what was happening. She quickly let go and staggered back as if she'd never meant to embrace him in the first place. "I'm- sorry about that". Her cheeks flushed. He seemed amused- she didn't know whether to be embarrassed or relieved. "You must be either very foolish or very smart". His tone seemed to mock her again, but she didn't care. She had just hugged a killing machine and lived to tell the tale. He walked back towards the computer screen on one of the desks. A sort of blue print was displayed. "Is that the bomb?" She felt a little braver now, so she sat on one of the rocks next to him while she inquired. His voice was a bit lighter now."It is, in fact, a bomb". He looked at her as if he was answering a child's silly question. She looked around to make herself seem distracted until her eyes met his mask. Now that she took a good look at it she noticed all the small tubes that connected to the center. Another question was itching its way up her throat. "That mask, what is it for?" Bane sighed. "The pain". His voice became a little grave again. She let the answer sit in and furrowed her brows- a feeling of sadness threatened to creep over her. "Oh..."

He turned to her suddenly. "How long would it take you to have all the Arkham patients running free?" Finally, she could be of some use. But how long would it take? She had all the keys stored- all eight hundred of them. And then she remembered the emergency lock and anti-lock button. The one that could immediately close every door in the Asylum as well as open them. "A few seconds". Bane raised his eyebrows and closed some of the distance between them. "Really? Well, maybe you'll do some good for me after all". She felt stupid for letting her heart flutter at the thought of pleasing him. Her hand slowly reached up on its own again, but this time he didn't shift. She rested her palm on his chest. Feeling his heart beat reminded her of the human that was still left in him- every slow thump traveling through her own veins. His stillness encouraged her to meet his skin with her other hand. She had just met this man. All she really knew about him was that he was dangerous and complicated. Yet somehow, something compelled her to be with him. Her hands slid upwards and around the back of his neck. "This is crazy" She thought- and with that she planted a soft, quick kiss at the center of his collarbone.


End file.
